The 15 November agreement to form the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between the 10 members of ASEAN and Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand has only modest immediate economic effects for the European Union (EU). However, with China playing a central role in the new arrangement, the long-term strategic and geopolitical implications are major.
China will consider joining a free trade pact once championed by the United States (US) but abandoned by Donald Trump, President Xi Jinping said last Friday, as Beijing increasingly seeks to influence the global rules of commerce.The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an updated version of a giant deal originally backed by former US president Barack Obama as an effort to counter China's rising might in Asia. Trump pulled out of it af
With the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 15 November, the stage is set for Malaysia to tap into the world’s largest free trade area (FTA) with 2.1 billion consumers, including China, and accounting for approximately 30 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). Up next is the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – spanning the Asia-Pacific Rim countries and home to 95 million consumers as well as contributing a
United States (US) President Donald Trump took part Friday in an Asia-Pacific summit as he pushes on with challenges to his election loss, a day after Xi Jinping used the forum to hail China's growing economic clout.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering, held online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).Beijing has become the main driving force behind th
President Xi Jinping hailed China as the pivot point for global free trade Thursday, vowing to keep its "super-sized" economy open for business and warning against protectionism as the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic.Buoyed by the signing of the world's largest trade pact over the weekend, Xi said the Asia-Pacific is the "forerunner driving global growth" in a world hit by "multiple challenges."He vowed "openness" to trade and rejected any poss
Once United States (US) President-elect Joe Biden’s administration has made the relatively easy decisions to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, remain in the World Health Organization (WHO), and attempt to reboot the World Trade Organization (WTO), it will confront three key foreign-policy issues.
China will get another chance to reshape Asia-Pacific trade at a regional summit starting Thursday, days after securing a huge trade pact victory and with the United States (US) playing protectionist defence.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, held online this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries including the world's two biggest economies, accounting for about 60 percent of global GDP.China has become the dominant force in th
15 Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday signed the world's biggest free trade deal, seen as a huge coup for China in extending its influence.The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) includes 10 Southeast Asian economies along with China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, with members accounting for around 30 percent of global GDP.First proposed in 2012, the deal was finally sealed at the end of a Southeast Asian summit as leaders push to get their pandemic-hit econ
Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations are set to sign an enormous free trade deal at an online summit that started Thursday, with the pact seen as a coup for China in extending its influence across the region.Once signed, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be the world's largest trade pact in terms of GDP, according to analysts.The pact, which was first proposed in 2012 and viewed as a Chinese-led rival to a now-defunct United States (US) trade initiative, loops in 10 Sou
Southeast Asian leaders warned Friday the virus pandemic had swept away years of economic gains and was hindering negotiations over the flashpoint South China Sea as they met online for a delayed summit.Vietnam, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), had wanted to use the summit to inject momentum into talks on a sprawling China-backed trade pact.But the immediate focus for the 10-member bloc was the crippling cost of the coronavirus, which has ravaged the ec
It is a tradition for ASEAN’s 10 members to take turns chairing the regional bloc in alphabetical order, and come 1 January, 2020, Vietnam will formally take over from Thailand fully aware of the responsibilities it will have to shoulder.Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha proudly handed a gavel, the symbol of ASEAN’s leadership, to a smiling Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the closing of the 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok on Monday – and the pressure is now on one of Asia’s fa
India said Monday it would not join a sprawling Asian trade pact, dealing a blow to the China-backed deal at the end of a Bangkok summit held against a backdrop of global growth fears.The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was meant to account for 30 percent of global GDP and loop in half of the world’s people.But India dug in over concerns about market access, fearing its domestic industries would be hit hard if the country was flooded by cheap Made-in-China goods.“We have co
